The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is officially out on the Nintendo Switch. The game has thrilled longtime fans and newcomers to the franchise alike. It has been well-received, and it’s sold very well, too. Over half a million copies were sold in just three days in only Japan and Europe. Is it worth picking up? How does it stack up to the rest of the franchise or games like it? Our official Echoes of Wisdom review will answer those questions and more.
Pros for Echoes of Wisdom
Gameplay
The gameplay is easily the best and most engaging part of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Even when players don’t have all 127 echoes unlocked, they can still find multiple ways of accomplishing a task. What makes this game so much fun and pretty unique is that there’s no one way to solve any puzzle. The 2D top-down games (and 3D games pre-Breath of the Wild) have almost always had one way of doing things, but this one allows for total freedom.
It makes the game a little less challenging, but a lot more fun. Instead of blindly trying to find the exact thing the developers had in mind, player creativity can take over and find any way of moving forward. The jingle that plays when you’ve done just that has rarely been more fun to hear. Echoes are very much a Tears of the Kingdom mechanic brought to 2D, but they make this game fun and make each playthrough unique. That only enhances the replayability, which is crucial for a story-based, single-player title like Echoes of Wisdom.
Art Style
Perhaps if not for the 2019 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, the art style utilized in that game and this one might be jarring. It’s not, though, and it’s beautiful. The Animal Crossing-style art and character design make this game feel lighthearted and very easy to sink into. Some games were criticized for this aspect (The Wind Waker, for example), but it perfectly matches with a story highlighting Princess Zelda for the first time. That decision proved to be a stroke of genius, as she makes this game distinct from others.
Exploration
That beautiful art style is on full display while Princess Zelda is spinning around the overworld (and the Still World, which is a fantastic addition as well). Exploration has always been a key element of the Zelda franchise, and it’s optimized here. In Echoes of Wisdom, there are plenty of places to go. They are all exciting and have possibilities for little puzzles akin to the Korok seeds or big side quests to do. It’s so easy to walk around the map and is one of the most fun parts of the game to review.
Cons for Echoes of Wisdom
Nintendo Switch
For the most part, Nintendo has once again come up with a game that makes the absolute most of the Switch’s limited capabilities. Every once in a while, however, issues occur that make us wonder if this might have been better saved for the Switch 2. There are some frame rate drops and occasionally a bit of lag. These aren’t game-breaking issues, but they do remind players that this is an underpowered seven-year-old console. The game will presumably be released for Switch 2 much like Breath of the Wild was on the Switch and Wii U, but that won’t happen for a long time if it ever does.
Challenge
Another downside to this game is that it’s just not as challenging. There’s a natural progression that makes each area a little more difficult to go through, but the first three dungeons are a total breeze, and that might not have been intentional. The echoes aspect does give creativity and freedom. On the other hand, it removes some of the classic difficulties that fans have come to know and love. There are no hours spent trying to find the secret that the developers included. It’s much easier to do so. It does remove some frustration, but that rewarding feeling has been slightly diluted. Some of the older games are very hard, and this one just isn’t.
In Conclusion
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is an excellent merger of two eras of this iconic franchise. It takes mechanics and a focus on freedom from the current era (Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom) and merges it with classic, 2D dungeon-centric gameplay. The dungeons are the focus, but there’s freedom in both how you attack them and when you do so. Zelda’s abilities remind everyone why Tears of the Kingdom was so successful, but the game itself harkens back to an era filled with all-time classics.
The game isn’t overly long, but it is so incredibly easy to sink into it. Much like the two mainline games that came before it, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom makes you feel like you are in Hyrule. It also makes you feel like you are the one fighting these battles, forcing you to scramble to find the right echo to use to save yourself from imminent danger. It’s a perfect mixture of a lot of things, which makes it one of the best games of the year. You should absolutely check it out if you haven’t.
Score: 4.5/5
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